Heartstrings
by Mo-Nighean-Donn
Summary: One-shot of Cath and Levi. Pure fluff because they are adorable.


_For those of you who haven't read Rainbow Rowell's fabulous book Fangirl, I recommend you go do so at once. It's a story that gets me every time, that crawls inside my head and curls up there very comfortably. I can share a cup of hot chocolate and a book by the fire with it. It's a good friend of mine. So yeah, this random little scene wandered out of my imagination, and I wanted to share it. Enjoy. _

_All characters belong to Rainbow Rowell._

* * *

Cath checked the time on her phone for the fifth time in as many minutes, then scolded herself. Levi had never been late before; he wouldn't be today. But she couldn't help pacing up and down her tiny dorm room, thankful Reagan wasn't there to witness and comment.

Cath smiled at the thought. She and Reagan had come a long way from the first awkward months of freshman year, when they didn't speak if they could help it; when Cath was terrified of Reagan . Terrified of new situations, terrified of the "real world," terrified of her own mind. She had been scared of everything back then.

Back then… It seemed so long ago, despite being only last year. Time passed differently at college. Levi had said something similar when they first met. Freshman months, he called them, different the same way dog years and human years are different.

Reagan still inspired a bit of awe in Cath, she was still abrupt and abrasive, but Cath had grown so accustomed to her roommate's stimulating personality that she actually enjoyed it, especially since she had Wren to balance things out. Wren, Reagan, Levi… Cath never took for granted how lucky she was to have each of them.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out to see Levi's face on the screen and swiped to answer the call.

"Hey hey," came his cheerful voice. She could hear the smile she knew was there. "You ready for this?"

"Um, yeah. Where are you?"

The question was barely out of her mouth when she heard his knock at the door. Cath fought the urge to roll her eyes as she crossed the room to open it. Levi stood there, grinning, his phone in one hand and a tray with two Starbucks drinks in the other. She pressed end call on her own phone, shaking her head.

"You didn't have to call," she said for what was probably the thousandth time. "When you're that close already, why bother?"

"I know I don't have to," he said, handing her a gingerbread latté. She knew his was eggnog without having to ask. "But it's my way of giving you a heads up. Like, you need a moment to take a deep breath and switch your brain from whatever you've been doing to whatever is coming next, but you don't like taking that breath in front of other people, even me. So, when I call, I'm giving you that moment to breathe."

Cath looked down at her Starbucks holiday cup, tracing patterns on it with a fingernail. "You notice all that?"

Levi smiled, a soft, sweet smile she had noticed was only for her. He reached out and brushed her hair behind her ear. "I notice everything about you, Cather."

She swallowed hard. Cath was used to a squeezed-tight feeling in her chest in moments of panic or stress; she was all too familiar with the sensation of iron bands around her heart, just a few sizes too small. But when it was Levi, somehow, the tight feeling under her ribs didn't hurt, and the band around her heart wasn't iron, and it felt warm. He did this to her sometimes, even after almost a year together. He said things, or did things, or sometimes just looked at her, and his eyes got all warm, and the blue of them got sort of watery without any tears, and it was just a bit too much for Cath. She was getting used to it, slowly, but she wasn't sure she'd ever know just how to respond. She wanted to; she wanted to have all the right words, like she could make Simon and Baz have all the right words and the right reactions, but there just wasn't enough time in real life, and there weren't any do-overs. You didn't get to rehearse these moments, you just had to muddle through and figure out what should have happened later and hope that the next time there's a Moment it's similar enough that the course of action you've mapped out is appropriate. And then it isn't. Each moment in life is different, and special in its own way, and you simply take them as they come. Cath was learning that, with Levi's help.

"You okay?" he asked softly, bending so his too-tall forehead bumped against hers.

She nodded mutely, finally managing to look up at him.

"Okay." Levi pressed a kiss against her lips, then straightened and took her latté from her.

"Hey!" she protested weakly.

"Coat, scarf, gloves," he instructed. "Probably a hat, too. It's cold out there."

Grinning, Cath bundled up, adding layers until Levi was satisfied. "But I can barely move."

"If you can't move, you can't get hypothermia."

Cath snagged her latté and took a sip; it was still hot. "I don't think that's how it works. Plus, I doubt I'll get hypothermia between here and your place."

"Oh, we aren't going straight to my place."

"We're not?"

"Nope."

Cath felt her forehead wrinkle and tried to smooth it out. "Then where are we going?"

Levi gave her a look of mock surprise. "On a date. To celebrate!"

"Celebrate _what_?"

"Cather Avery, don't tell me you've forgotten?"

"Forgotten what? Levi—" Cath began, exasperation rising.

"It's our anniversary."

Cath stared blankly at him. "Our anniversary isn't for months yet," she said slowly.

"Well, maybe not _the_ anniversary, but _an_ anniversary." The teasing faded from his voice and his eyes. "A year ago today, you read The Outsiders to me so I could pass my quiz."

Cath felt her heart squeeze again, just a little bit, remembering what had happened after the reading. "Are you sure you want to celebrate that particular day?"

"Yes," he insisted.

"But I avoided you after, and then your party—"

"Well, I'm not suggesting we celebrate me being a complete jerk, but I am definitely going to remember the first time I kissed you. Do you know how I felt when you came running after me, holding my book?"

"I felt really bad that I'd been mean to you. I wanted to make it up."

"And I not only got to hear your voice for hours, I got to hold onto you. I'd wanted to for the longest time."

Cath blushed, thinking about the hundreds of hours they'd spent holding onto each other since that night. "I didn't know how badly I wanted to kiss you until then, and then I really wanted to."

"See, that night changed everything, even if it took us a while to figure things out afterward."

"I guess so." Cath smiled at Levi over her drink, feeling way too warm with all her outdoor layers on. "Let's go then, before I overheat." She moved past him to open the door.

"Hey Cath?"

She turned back. "Yeah?"

He just looked at her for a second, with the soft, melt-y look in his eyes that told Cath he was really, really happy right then. "I love you."

The bands around her heart tightened again, really hard this time, but in a very good way. "I love you too, Levi."


End file.
